In Erie, Pa., employers are desperate to find qualified technicians to fill jobs:

Erie newcomer Dawn Miller says two months of job-hunting have put her optimism on ice.

Rob Smith has a different problem. The Crawford County business owner has openings for 15 qualified machinists he can’t find.

In a region where thousands are unemployed and the jobless rate remains well above historic levels, both of these scenarios — lots of job seekers and an abundance of unfilled jobs — still manage to be commonplace.

Erie County has 10,400 people on the state’s official unemployment roll. That’s according to the state Department of Labor & Industry, but many experts believe the real number is substantially higher.

In Crawford County, another 3,000 people say they want work but can’t find it.

Yet economic development leaders in both counties say employers are struggling more than they have in years to find qualified workers.

How to explain this discrepancy? Turns out that companies need skilled labor. There still aren’t many jobs for unskilled labor.

Well, where are the graduates of technical schools that provide needed skills to laborers? They’re not there. In fact, enrollment is so low in the Erie County technical school that they’re going to have to cut faculty. 

Why is this happening? Is it a class thing? Are parents and/or students unwilling to consider blue-collar work? Are students unwilling to go to school? What could be causing this? Shouldn’t the market be correcting this? Thoughts?

(H/T: Sam M.)